While conversing with a dear friend, whom I’ve known since sixth grade, I was blindsided. She had precious little interest in politics, and went to the polls, only to please her husband and her son, those latter ardent Republicans. In the past, she always voted the way they would’ve liked her to vote. That I’ve known for decades.

Just so happens, Rush displeased her so much that she fully intends to vote against whomever your party runs as a presidential candidate. That shall be her way of putting the screws to Rush. For someone, who left before just finishing high school, she occasionally flashes with sophistication. Thanks to the Australian ballot, she shall enjoy a cloak of anonymity. So, neither her husband nor her son need know.

Well, that gave me an epiphany. I happen to know another woman, who habitually votes straight Republican. .. oh, yeah, she thinks the world of you .. She’s on the fence, and she is sorely tempted to vote the way the aforementioned wife and mother intends. I surmise only a couple more broadcasts by you know whom would suffice.

Lem’me put it this way. Every time Rush gets on the air, the temptation for that latter woman and others like her only grows. Also just so happens, I know this latter woman fairly well. She is a “shirt tail” relation. Once she’s yielded to temptation, her mind set, she’s going to go about swaying other members of her sex. Every woman, who gets swayed like so, will make it that much harder to evict Barack Hussein Obama Jr from the White House.

This phenomenon has to be taking place nationwide. Maybe, its magnitude palls in comparison with what can be accomplished with an expenditure of a hundred million dollars in campaign ads. Nonetheless, in a closely contested election, just a little bit may well make for a humungous difference.

As fate might have it, the choices could very well come down to these: either tolerate Rush’s presence on the air waves, or evict the current resident from the premises at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

There’s no having both.

Sincerely,

A Alexander Stella

Susquehanna Depot

We hear the bad most of the time concerning fracking and contamination of water: We seldom hear the good. I called Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation to obtain a preliminary water testing. When I called, a person says, "They will send someone within a few weeks." Several weeks later, a young man comes out to test water from my exterior water faucet. I ask if this test is sufficient, and this is his reply, "It does not take in consideration all the chemicals that will be in use, You may want a more complete test." I enquire, how long will it take to receive results of this test? "You must call my company and they will have an answer for you." Hence, I call and a Mr. Frank Guerin informs me, "It will probably be a couple of months.” I say you can have three; he laughs, he says, "Thanks."

Several months go by and a message is on my house phone answering machine. A woman informs me she will be sending out the results next week. When the test results arrive, the next week, they make no sense to me. However, in a letter that I receive from Phillip B. Levasseur, Water Sampling Program Coordinator, along with the results, the letter states, "If you have any questions regarding how to interpret the analytical data, please contact the Scranton District Office of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP).”

I make a phone call and a woman refers me to a Mr. Ryan Klemish; she says, "He will call you soon." Five minutes later the telephone rings and it is Mr. Klemish. We go down the list item by item; he fully explains in complete detail the meaning of each item. This is not most of the chemicals in use during fracking, I say to him.

He refers me to a website (www.dep.state.pa.us) that list further chemicals. He walks me through each step until a page with a list of chemicals is in full view. He also explains, "If they drill within 2500 feet, Cabot Oil will inform you and take a further complete test. However, you may still wish to obtain a private test on your own, it is up to you.”

We must give credit, where credit is due. There is full cooperation with Cabot Oil & Gas and those in association with fracking.

Sincerely,

Larry Gary

Gibson, PA

This year experts predict that 577,190 Americans will be killed. Not by a war in the Mideast, or by the Big One leveling Los Angeles, or by a terrorist attack in New York City. Their lives will be cut short by a plague no less deadly because of its familiarity---the Big C, cancer.

Think of it: Cancer will strike down more Americans in 2012 than were killed in two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Next year it will be more.

It wasn't always like this.

In 1900 the death rate from cancer was 64 per 100,000. In 1920 it climbed to 83. Twenty years later it increased to 120. And by 1960 it was 149 per 100,000. It became apparent that a malignant epidemic was brewing. Something had to be done.

President Nixon declared war on cancer in 1972. The nation's resources of time, talent, and money, would do battle with cancer and conquer it.

How did we do?

When the War On Cancer began the death rate from that disease was 164 per 100,000. After forty years, an army of researchers, and $3 trillion, the cancer rate is 185 per 100,000 and climbing.

Cancer continues to ravage the population and at an accelerated rate. More than 12 million Americans have cancer with 1.6 million new cases diagnosed annually.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Institute (ACI) have doggedly pursued three treatments: radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. With the exception of a few types of rare cancers, these treatments have proved to be mistreatments.

Radiation is a known cause of cancer. Give chemotherapy to a healthy person and his chance of contracting cancer will increase. And surgery, even a biopsy, releases cancer cells into the blood stream where they can metastasize.

The underlying dogma of burn, poison, and cut, is that the tumor is the problem. Eliminate it and you eliminate cancer. However, results cast doubt on this paradigm. But taking a fresh approach and looking at the tumor as a symptom rather than a disease may prove to be effective - it could hardly be worse.

It's said we are born with cancer, a few normal cells gone awry. But the immune system keeps these errant cells in check just as it protects us from scores of bacterial and viral infections. Compromise this system and the door to sickness is opened.

Yet, even in illness the body usually routs the invading foe and we regain our health. But if the immune system is seriously weakened, then the battle between the immune system and the foreign foe becomes problematic. If it loses, you die.

Something happened on our way from 1900 to 2012 to weaken the immune system and tip the scales more and more in cancer's favor. Something changed. Surely it wasn't our genetics or the nature of our immune system. Something else was incrementally altered over the last 100 years and that something was diet.

If this is correct, then trying to cure cancer with a magic bullet is comparable to taking a pill to prevent gunshot injury; it won't work.

While no one would argue that diet is the only cancer culprit, few would dispute that it plays a part, perhaps a major part, in cancer causation and more importantly, in cancer prevention.

At the turn of the 20th century factory foods packaged in cans, bottles, boxes, and bags, were just beginning to come onto the market. Today, these devitalized foodless foods and beverages are a mainstay in the diet of many Americans and a major cause of cancer, a fact to which the cancer industry pays only lip service.

Think for one moment that oncologists are anxious to cure cancer and move from a cushy office to the unemployment line? Or do you suppose that the ACS and the ACI are looking to turn their $490 million money-making machine to $0?

And can you imagine that Big Pharma after inventing cancer's remedy would celebrate the cure by giving up $22 billion in annual sales for cancer drugs?

Your health, whether keeping it or regaining it is your responsibility. Delegate this responsibility to someone else and your interests take a distant second place. Take charge. Put yourself first.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2000 years prior. “A democracy is always temporary in nature, it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship”.

“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of time has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith: from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage.”

Our Founding Fathers were well aware of this scenario long before Tyler came along and did their best to structure our Republic in ways that would prevent America from going down the same path. However, from the very beginning, forces were in place to erode the protections built into our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Look about you. In how many ways can you see the fall of our Republic taking shape. Do we, in 2012, have the courage to take a different path from all those who came before us or are we destined to return to bondage? Those great men, our Founders, gave us a priceless gift. Are we going to, by our complacency and apathy, deny our prodigy of the gift which permitted the United States to be the greatest nation that ever existed on this earth? I may make a small difference if I am lucky. But, if all of you who read this also make a small difference, it could lead to a big difference.

Sincerely,

Joe McCann

Elk Lake, PA

I wrote last week that Jesus rose from the dead over 2000 years ago. It should be 1979 yrs ago, according to the Gregorian calender (Pope Gregory III). Some of the Orthodox Christians use the Julian calender, (Julius Caesar) which has a different date. Thank god for the County Transcript.

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorehead

Susquehanna, PA